How do you live with yourself eating the birds you raised?

[joebryant]

How do I live with myself eating the birds that I raise?
Actually, I don't live with myself too well because I DON'T eat the birds that I raise. I sit on my lazy high horse telling myself that I can't because I raised them, so I give them to someone else to kill. Truth is, I'm too lazy to mess with it.
You tell me. How phony and rediculous is THAT?
It almost most begs the question: How can you live with yourself by not taking the responsibility of eating the chickens that you should be eating instead of wasting your family's resources.
Ask your question of some American who's hungry right now.

 

[6Happiness]

Our ancestors, heck, some of our parents and granparents did it- it was a fact of life they grew up with and thus was considered normal, and they were used to it.

I personally would prefer to slaughter and eat an animal that I knew- that I pampered with the best care I could give it, that I know did not sufferer, that died a quick death with as least pain as possible.... than to eat an animal product from the store that I never met the animal, that I cannot have said "thank you" to him or her before the final moment, that I know likely lived a life a suffering and deprivation of that which makes animals happy (the sunlight, the grass under their feet, etc). If and When I eat meat (something that I tend to reserve for special occasions), I feel better having been involved in as much of the animals life as possible.... and yes, there is some sadness to say good by to a particular animal and do the deed... but I also find it sad to consume meet from a commercial source- sad wondering how that animal probably suffered, etc.

For me, there is also a spiritual component to the issue which may make it an easier choice to carry out as well.

When people raise animals for slaughter, they often will raise identical looking animals (eg all white ones, or all brown ones) instead of spotted ones and different colours. Not always, but often, and one reason (among others) is that it makes it harder to tell the animals apart, so it is harder to be come "too attached" to a specific animal that will be slaughtered.

Some people are OK raising the animals but not slaughtering the animals, so they take them to someone else who will slaughter and dress the animals for them.

And if it all still squicks you, and you know how they treat the animals commercially raised for meat, then you may want to either 1. find a local meat farmer than sells meat after it is butchered (they often sell in large quantities so You may need to invest in a freezer to hold half-a cow's worth of meat), and by this I mean of course one who raises the animals humanely and will allow you to visit to confirm it with your own eyes and even help with the animal's care to some degree sometimes or 2. you may want to consider being vegetarian. (remember that the milk/cheese/etc produed is just as bad in most cases as how eggs are commercially produced, just in different ways. So I'd skip the dairy, and get protein from beans, nuts, etc and of course all the yummy eggs your pet chickens provide you with)

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Actually we shouldn't HAVE to justify it, no more than you should have to justify keeping them as pets. No one is negating the fact that chickens are animals, beautiful and sometimes fun to keep around. That they are also considered a major food source in this country as well as others is a fact....something that you cannot negate just because you prefer them as pets.

I never asked you or any of the others to justify or defend how you can reconcile butchering and eating animals that you raised, food animals or other. My point was simply that regardless of the status of the animal, food animal, companion animal, or other, the complex relationships we develop with them are undeniable. The fact that we are even having this conversation is proof enough of that I would say. Calling something a food animal does not magically absolve someone of guilt nor justify the act. That's just a modern myth that we have fabricated.
The fact is we are omnivores with more "no kill" food options available than not and that can provide us with not only a healthier diet but also one that does not leave us wrestling with the moral dilemma of having to kill something to get food on our plate. Fore those who are not desensitized enough to understand this and have serious moral issues with it, I would tell them to drop the meat and focus their energies on eating right. It's better for them, the animals and the planet. Take it or leave it.

In one sentence you state you aren't asking us to justify it and in the next you say it doesn't magically absolve us of guilt or justify the act. You are contradicting yourself. You also claim we are " desensitized" as you, as you claim, are not.

If you buy anything in the store to eat, meat or not, you are likely eating something that was fertilized by manure from a confined feeding operation farm. Like or not, something is dying for your meal. Those of us who choose to give our animals a quality life before we eat them find people like yourself to be seriously deluding yourself into thinking you are sensitive to animals, whereas we are not. By merely munching on your salads, you are contributing to and supporting the misery of thousands of animals. Your moral stand has feet of clay and you really need to step off your high horse....he is tired of being ridden and needs a rest.

 

[ElCuervo]

If I was going to eat chicken, it would be far preferable to eat my own over eating most of the chicken sold in the supermarkets. I had to spend more time than I wanted repairing big trucks used to deliver poultry to the markets, and even though I have a very strong stomach, that was enough to make me quit eating them decades ago.

No matter what, I don't think I could eat my babies, though - not that there is anything wrong with that!

 

[PunkinPeep]

The fact is we are omnivores with more "no kill" food options available than not and that can provide us with not only a healthier diet but also one that does not leave us wrestling with the moral dilemma of having to kill something to get food on our plate.

I respectfully disagree.

There is quite a bit of research to suggest that it is not necessarily (or at all) healthier to take meat out of your diet, and i see no moral dilemma.​

 

[redhen]

Quote:
I respectfully disagree.

There is quite a bit of research to suggest that it is not necessarily (or at all) healthier to take meat out of your diet, and i see no moral dilemma.

Yep..i agree..
I do not feel that a no meat diet is necessarily a healithier way of life.
Not at all, in fact..

 

[WVJeanne]

I just waded through this whole thread. Whew!

I do not eat my chickens. The primary reason is that I am lazy. I am not fond of plucking and cleaning chickens, although I am seriously considering buying meat chickens (NOT Cornish Cross's). I would do it if the chicken was a young meat chicken, but never for an old rooster.

The second reason is that by the time one has decided to cull the chicken, they are usually past their prime, and I am not enamored of the idea of stewing up an old bird.

The third reason is that I can get a good price for them at the auction. A good sized rooster brings $3 to $5. If I have several roosters, I choose the ones I want to keep after they are old enough to show their true colors. I keep the good ones and the rest go to auction.

As for killing an animal for food, I have no trouble with that. When your three doe rabbits have just about buried you in bunnies, the feed bill is growing and you have no more cages, the bunnies are suddenly not "too cute to eat." I have raised, killed and eaten many a rabbit.

I worked in a nursing home and the nurses used to ask me, "How can you kill a cute little bunny?" Well, I would say, you take them by the hind legs, put your fingers under their chin... I never got any further. They ran screaming and never asked me again. Dunno why.

I shot and killed only one kid goat. It was actually very good, but since I could get $30 to $40 at auction for a ten to twelve week old kid, I figured I really couldn't afford to eat them.

We raise our own beef and pork. The calf is taken to the slaughter house because it is just too big for us to handle, and we don't have the equipment needed to cut it up properly. The pig we shoot, cut up and put in the freezer.

I don't make pets of my chickens. The thing I enjoy most about chickens is looking out my window and seeing them roaming free. And free roaming they are. There are no fences. If they had a mind to and a sense of direction, they could go to Chicago. They seldom even cross the road, though. They cluck, scratch, take dust baths, eat bugs and watch for hawks. We don't even have any trouble with dogs. The neighbor's dogs occasionally kill a chicken, but only his. They haven't done that for a long time, though.

I had a bantam rooster who was a pet and I carried him around on my chores because he was too small and young to put in with the hens. He loved it. When he got big enough to put in with the hens, I was chopped liver. He had discovered girls.

A note to the vegetarians: Less than 10% of the population can survive well on a vegetarian diet and even fewer on a vegan. For most people it is definitely not a healthy diet. Neither, for that matter, is the government recommended diet. Diet is a very individual thing and it is best governed by what your body needs, not some moral ideas or the food pyramid.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

...we are omnivores with more "no kill" food options available than not and that can provide us with...a...diet...that does not leave us wrestling with the moral dilemma of having to kill something to get food on our plate.

I also respectfully disagree, because I think there really are very FEW true "no kill" food options available. Perhaps you aren't directly ending an animal's life in order to eat it, but often animals are killed, directly and indirectly, while producing fruits, vegs, beans, grains, eggs & dairy. It's a grim fact of life, that living depends on the sacrifice & death of others.​

 

[b&b's barnyard]

I've gotten to the point where certain chickens are for eating the rest are my girls or my cluckies and no body touches them

 

[thedollysmama]

I can feed my chickens food I know and understand. I can let them run around the yard and have a good time. I know how they die, with respect, and I know that my father will be able to eat them without getting sick. My dad gets sick on store bought chicken. My mom is sensitive to chemicals in her food. My hubby likes home grown chicken way more than the bland stuff from a commercial establishment. I have the ability to raise 90% of the food my family consumes and rather than support an industry that would fill my chickens with chemicals and what I deem questionable feedstuff I raise my own. Animals live and die with dignity here. I have been to a commercial slaughterhouse and animals do not die with dignity there. I love chicken, rabbit, lamb, and goat. I raise my own and I eat them. It is not easy but I think my family is healthier for the choices we make. I do not want a corporation making the decisions about my food for me.

Karen the Gimp